the free ipod deal runs until 30th october. does anyone think that this could indicate that leopard will be released on 31st? As that will mean apple can ship any imacs ordered on or before 30th with tiger and clear out stock.

It was just an idea that popped into my head, as I'm gonna order an imac, but was looking to wait until leopard is released and get it with the ipod touch (£85 rebate) and leopard pre-installed. I have no need to order right away, as I have a MacBook which I can make do with, but if leopard isn't gonna be available with the imac/ipod deal, then I may as well order now.

the free ipod deal runs until 30th october. does anyone think that this could indicate that leopard will be released on 31st? As that will mean apple can ship any imacs ordered on or before 30th with tiger and clear out stock.

It was just an idea that popped into my head, as I'm gonna order an imac, but was looking to wait until leopard is released and get it with the ipod touch (£85 rebate) and leopard pre-installed. I have no need to order right away, as I have a MacBook which I can make do with, but if leopard isn't gonna be available with the imac/ipod deal, then I may as well order now.

Judging from what I've heard from various internal people, I'm betting its going to be a release in either the last or second to last week of October. As RBMaraman said, it'll probably be a Friday release date too. So that narrows it down to the last two Fridays in October -- October 19th or October 26th. With the current state of internal seeds, the GM won't be ready to do to the production lines in time for an early October release.

In the past, when new OSes have been released by Apple the price has never gone up.

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That's good to hear. Man! I've been roaring to buy the new MBP but I'm still thinking of whether to wait for leopard. But then if I wait, What if Leopard gets delayed and delayed then released in December? and i end up not having a new MBP till that time. Haha. This is stressing me out.

It always makes me wonder why these big companies don't just learn and over-estimate launch dates by a couple months. Because then they would not only look good for staying on schedule, they would look even better for being AHEAD of schedule.

Good Observation there,my friend. That seems quite possible, and 10.5 is also a Friday.

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No, that does not seem possible. At all. For a number of reasons.

One, the Leopard build has not even gotten seemingly close to Gold Master. Even if it WAS Gold Master today, in its current form, it has traditionally taken Apple about 2 weeks to get them made, packed & shipped to stores.

So even if Apple was going to announce the build they have today is absolutely perfect and the final candidate for release, it still wouldn't arrive in stores until October 8th (2 weeks from today).

This is assuming that the current build is perfect and the Gold Master (which it undoubtably is not).

One, the Leopard build has not even gotten seemingly close to Gold Master. Even if it WAS Gold Master today, in its current form, it has traditionally taken Apple about 2 weeks to get them made, packed & shipped to stores.

So even if Apple was going to announce the build they have today is absolutely perfect and the final candidate for release, it still wouldn't arrive in stores until October 8th (2 weeks from today).

This is assuming that the current build is perfect and the Gold Master (which it undoubtably is not).

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